


Late Night Wanderings

by audeamus



Category: Political RPF - US 21st c., West Wing
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-05
Updated: 2010-06-05
Packaged: 2017-10-09 22:42:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/92381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/audeamus/pseuds/audeamus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barack and Rahm meet their counterparts in the West Wing</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late Night Wanderings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scissorphishe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scissorphishe/gifts).



  
Prompt: Sometime post-election and pre-inauguration (it can be the day of the Inauguration if you like), one or more members of the Bartlet administration meet with their Obama administration counterparts. I especially like the idea of one or more of the following: Bartlet and Obama, Sam and Favreau (think of the potential lulz!), Josh and Rahm (THINK HOW EPIC), or CJ with anyone -- but Leo with Axelrod, or Josh with David Plouffe, or Dr. Bartlet with Michelle Obama could also be interesting. Or throw them all together at once if you like  
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.

*************  
Some part of him still didn't believe that he had made it. It was the same part of him that drove him outside to wander in odd hours of the night. At night he could avoid camera, be left to his thoughts, and really reflect on what was bothering him at the time. Tonight, before his Inauguration, Barack's mind buzzed so much there was little hope of getting to sleep anytime soon, so he had gone outside with the intention of having a smoke or a walk around the block.

His secret service escorts muttered into their jackets and began to follow him at a discrete distance, their eyes always darting and taking in the shadowy parts of the DC streets and side streets. Barack loved this city, even in the dead of winter it had a serene beauty but city dirtiness and crowdedness that reminded him of Chicago. His mind wandered to thoughts of working with Chicago's inner population as a lawyer and organizer as he surveyed the less than pristine parts of the city's infrastructure. His feet took him not around the block but down street after lit street, and further from the nicer hotels.

Having been quite a walk from the rooms where Michelle and the kids were sleeping, Barack was after some ten blocks chilled to the bone, wishing for a cigarette.

The secret service guys seemed to fall back, and his gaze shifted from the glow of the White House lights to the gate. He was understandably surprised to see that someone was waving at him to come closer. As he did step closer, the streetlight revealed the figure to be none other than President Bartlet. He was standing just inside the gate on the White House drive, wearing a thick coat.

"Young man, don't you know it's freezing out here?" He regarded Barack with a slight grin.

He chuckled, "Too much on my mind I guess. Good evening to you, Mr. President."

Bartlet turned to the gates-man and motioned for him to open the gate as Barack drew closer. "Would you like to come in? I have coffee.. "

"Are you sure? I don't want to bother the First Lady.. "

"She's fast asleep in the Residence and I have this great office, it's rather unusually shaped. Want to take a look?"

Barack chuckled softly, walking side by side up the drive with him. Once there were inside the Oval Office, Barack surveyed the room, seeing how different it looked in the gentle glow of lamps and not by the flash of photographers' cameras. It even smelled different, like the inside of a well-trodden library.

They walked around until reaching two chairs close to a small cabinet and desk. He watched as Bartlet leaned over and pulled a bottle from the cabinet and pour himself an inch of dark liquid into a tumbler. Then he retrieved a cup of coffee for Barack, asking how he took it and adding the necessary condiments.

He took the warm mug with a small smile, "Thank you Mr. President."

"Ah, no trouble. So.. what, are you nervous about taking the oath? Remembering your speech?"

He nodded, taking a long sip before responding, "I don't mind a little mistake or two, everyone has those. And part of me.. I know it won't be as monumental as other speeches but I can't help-"

"Thinking you have a high bar to hurdle? That's why you're going to be the next one up to bat, 'cause you're sure to swing for the fences, not the outfield. I thought you'd know by now that's the reason you were made the nominee. People don't want the status quo, they want a leader. It's your turn."

Barack smiled, "Would you be giving the same advice to Senator McCain?"

Bartlet snorted and took a sip himself, "He'd need more than baseball analogies."

"Metaphors."

"Smart ass. Anyway, that's another reason you're getting the advice, not McCain. He's not a stupid man, but for god's sake I wish he'd been a bit quicker on his feet. How do you mix up middle eastern countries and Islam denominations that many times in a row?"

"Look, I'm sure he was having-"

"Don't give him excuses, that's what pissed me off during the campaign. You're running for the seat to govern the free world, not governorship of Alaska! Oh wait...."

"Mr. President really...."

He shot Barack an annoyed look and continued, "There's something else you have to understand Senator, I'm not the press. I didn't... and still don't buy into your idea of promoting a sense of bipartisanship in which our side thinks it means coddling the other. The other team, their guys in Congress don't want it and aren't going to listen. Unless you shove facts and arguments down their throats and yank at their collars they will sit their fat asses down, blathering until they're blue in the face."

"And our guys?"

"The ones with money lining their pockets need a goddamn reality check. The ones who have the good ideas? Listen. To. Them. I know you watch C-SPAN, so you know who they are. Talk to them and their committees. Have your Chief of Staff badger those who won't. I know something about this Rahm character and he seems to be the perfect man for the job."

*****

Right outside the Oval Office, Rahm grinned at the compliment he had just heard. Of course he knew he was good for the job but it didn't hurt to hear so from Jed Bartlet. He had tried calling Barry a few hours previous about something and had found out from Michelle that he had gone out for a walk.

Barry had a way of ending up in talks like this, he swore the man had a magnetic field that attracted certain kinds of people or drew him to such persons. Already having gained clearance to the White House, it was then a further matter to talk to the right people to get this far. He thought he heard a floorboard creak down the hall, but Rahm dismissed the notion that anyone would be working this late.

  
*****

Along the same hallway, Josh yawned and stumbled out of his office and down the hall in the wrong direction. Instead of the way out and toward the exit, he made his way toward the Oval Office. He had been finishing something.. important. Maybe. What he did know for certain was that he had woken up, face pressed into laptop keys consumed with an urge to pee.

His plan of finding a toilet and exit evaporated as he bumped into something that swore back at him, albeit quietly. He blinked and tried to make out who it was from the light spilling from the office lamps and from a far-away hallway light.

"Josh Lyman? The fuck are you doing here this late?"

"Ah, Rahm Emmanuel. I thought that was your unwashed mouth; I should ask why you're here this late, you don't work here yet." He yawned until he felt something pop in his jaw, "I was writing something.. forgot what."

"Work-a-holic." His tone was almost fond, but with a curled lip.

"Like you're a ray of sunshine, and my question's unanswered."

"Bar-The President's talking to Barack in there. I was making sure he was alright."

Josh nodded in understanding, "Wanna get some coffee? I know a twenty-four hour place."

"Nah I'm going to head back to the hotel in a minute.. big day and all. Barry will probably forget something that I will have to remember."

"Do you call him that, usually?"

Rahm glared lightly at him and Josh in his sleepy wisdom dropped the subject, now almost lulled to sleep by the murmurs of the men in the next room. He leaned against the closest door and kept listening. It was a few more minutes until Josh moved again and he clapped Rahm on the shoulder, "You'll all be fine tomorrow.. I have a good feeling about it."

He smiled and turned around, taking the right way to the gate this time.

Rahm watched him leave, lips curling in a small smile. He decided to wait a few more minutes, listening to Jed and Barack compare past Inauguration speeches, sometimes one correcting the other on his quotation of a passage. Something about that and this whole evening gave him the feeling they would all be alright.


End file.
